Perone Sammy, Anderson Alana J, Weybright Elizabeth H
Department of Human Development, Washington State University, 515 Johnson Tower, Pullman, WA 99163 USA.
OMNI Institute, Denver, CO USA.
Adapt Human Behav Physiol. 2023 Mar 21:1-17. doi: 10.1007/s40750-023-00213-2.
The purpose of the current study was to examine age-related change in state and trait boredom in 12- to 17-year-old adolescents and test whether neurophysiological correlates of self-regulation relate to boredom during adolescence in the same way that has been found in adults.
Eighty-nine 12- to 17-year-old adolescents participated. Three types of trait boredom were measured: boredom proneness, leisure boredom, and boredom susceptibility. State boredom was also measured after completing a boredom induction task while EEG was recorded. Slopes in frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) were extracted from the EEG as a measure of approach (leftward shifts) or avoidance (rightward shifts).
A curvilinear relationship between age and boredom proneness and age and boredom susceptibility was observed, indicating trait boredom rises and falls across adolescence. State boredom, by contrast, increased linearly with age. Slopes in FAA inversely related only to boredom proneness, indicating higher levels of this type of trait boredom related to an avoidant response as a state of boredom ensues.
We suggest the rise and fall of trait boredom across adolescence may be due to changes in person-environment fit during middle adolescence, whereas state boredom may increase with age due to improvements in attentional processes that mundane lab tasks do not satisfactorily engage. The link between FAA and only one type of trait boredom indicates self-regulatory processes and boredom are not yet strongly coupled in adolescence. Implications for prevention of negative behavioral health outcomes associated with high levels of trait boredom are discussed.
本研究旨在考察12至17岁青少年中与年龄相关的状态无聊和特质无聊变化，并测试自我调节的神经生理相关性是否与青少年期无聊之间的关系与在成年人中发现的方式相同。
89名12至17岁的青少年参与了研究。测量了三种特质无聊类型：无聊倾向、休闲无聊和无聊易感性。在完成一个引发无聊任务后测量状态无聊，同时记录脑电图（EEG）。从脑电图中提取额部阿尔法不对称性（FAA）的斜率，作为趋近（向左偏移）或回避（向右偏移）的指标。
观察到年龄与无聊倾向以及年龄与无聊易感性之间呈曲线关系，表明特质无聊在整个青春期有起有落。相比之下，状态无聊随年龄呈线性增加。FAA斜率仅与无聊倾向呈负相关，表明这种特质无聊水平较高与随着无聊状态出现的回避反应有关。
我们认为，特质无聊在青春期的起伏可能是由于青春期中期个人与环境匹配度的变化，而状态无聊可能因日常实验室任务未能充分调动的注意力过程的改善而随年龄增加。FAA与仅一种特质无聊类型之间的联系表明，自我调节过程与无聊在青春期尚未紧密耦合。讨论了对预防与高特质无聊水平相关的负面行为健康结果的启示。
